Fruit or berry box.



UNITED STATES Patented April 19, 1904.

JOSEPH E. LYNAM, or SAN Jose, CALIFORNIA.

-' FRUIT 0R BERRY Box.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 757,558, dated April 19, 1904. Application filed November 29,1901. Serial No. 83,960. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOSEPH E. LYNAM, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of San Jose,- in the county of Santa Clara and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Fruit or Berry Boxes, of

which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved construction of receptacles for packing fruits and berries, such as are generally'included under the. names of boxes, drawers, and

trays; and the invention comprises an im-' proved box or tray constructed of chip or veneers of wood and relatively thick end pieces.

box constructed according to myinvention and provided with a cover. Fig. 2 is a plan or top view of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 represents 1n top view a construction in which square corner-posts and end panels of veneer are sub stituted for continuous end pieces of the same thickness. Fig. 4 is aside elevation showing the air-space for ventilation left between one box and the next when a number of boxes are placed in a stack. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a tray, showing the manner of securing a cover or topboard in place. Fig. 6 is a detail in perspective of the pieces at one of the joints in Fig. 1, and Fig. 7 is a similar view of the joints in Fig. 8.

A indicates the end pieces of relatively thick stuff, and B the side pieces of veneer or thin stuff of the kind used at the present time in the construction of fruit and berry boxes. At the angles and corners where the pieces meet and require to be joined at right angles the joint is formed by letting the edge of'the veneer into a slit a, made in the thick piece at an angle to the plane in which the veneer is I to stand, so that after being inserted the veneer must be bent at the line of the joint in order to bring the side piece at right angles to the thicker piece. The slit a is also made in the inner face of the thicker end piece or that side which is inside the box and is situated' entirely within the face of the end that lies'substantially in the plane of the side piece and forms the corner of the box. After the edge of the side piece is fixed in the slit a, which should be made of proper size tion are substituted for the thick end pieces and each post is provided with an angular slit a in the adjacent inner vertical sides, as shown in the detail view, Fig. 7, to receive the ends of the thin strips. In both constructions it should be observed that the joint by which the thin strip is secured to the thick piece of material is in every case situated entirely within the outer face or that side which is presented to the outside, and consequently the angular bend in the thin strip on the line of the joint is not exposed to abrasion or wear. The drawer or tray is completed by fixing in place a bottom also formed of veneer or of thin board of like character. In one way this bottom board is fixed in place by inserting the ends in angular grooves or slits in narrow strips of the same dimensions in length and thickness as the end piece of the tray and securing these end strips'against the bottom of the end pieces by nailing them, as shown in the detail, Fig. 6, or, in-another way, the angular groove or slit is made directly in the inup the bottom of the box, and thereby give a space between it and the top of the box under it in the stack for ventilation, as illustrated in Fig. 4. The other construction, wherein the angular slit is inclined in the opposite direction, is well adapted for trays that are not placed in piles, such as berry trays and drawers. When atop or' cover is required, the end pieces are provided with slits on the inner face below the top edge, in which the edges of a board or thin'strips of stuff are inserted in the same manner as the bottom is I am aware that it is not new to secure a strip of thin material, as splints or chips, to a thicker piece by inserting the end of the thin piece in an angular groove or slit in the thick piece, as a joint of that character has been employed in the construction of chip baskets and in boxes. I therefore do not claim, broadly, a joint of that constructiom but I am not aware that a box, tray, or similar receptacle has heretofore been produced in which the pieces are united by a joint that is .angularly-set groove extending into the end piece at an obtuse angle to the plane of the side piece and situated within the plane of the outer face of the piece in which said groove is made, side pieces having their ends bent at an angle to the grooves in the end pieces, the ends thereof being bent to bring the side pieces in a plane with the edges of the end pieces, and a bottom board united to the end pieces by a joint composed of an angularly-set groove extending into the end piece at an angle to and above the plane of the said bottom board, and having its ends bent to stand at an angle to the plane of the bottom.

2. In a box or other similar receptacle, the combination of side pieces and end pieces joined together at right angles, each end piece having a groove in the inner face thereof at the meeting angle of the perpendicular inner face and horizontal bottom face thereof, and extending upwardly into the solid substance of the end piece at an angle to the said perpendicular and horizontal faces, and a bottom board having the ends scored and bent upward to stand above the plane of the bottom at an obtuse angle, said angularly-bent end pieces being fitted to the grooves to be retained therein without other fastening means,

' and to bring the lower face of the bottom substantially flush with the horizontal bottom face of the end pieces.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH E. LYNAM.

Witnesses:

DE LANCEY LEWIS, R. A. CLARK. 

